SAN FRANCISCO — It’s fashionable to bash the Grammy Awards. They make it so easy: Jethro Tull beating Metallica, Mary Poppins topping the Beatles, Milli Vanilli winning anything. But this year we thought it would be better to focus on the positive. It wasn’t easy. The three-and-a-half hour broadcast from Los Angeles’ Staples Center was full of head-slapping moments. It was an oddly paced show with plenty of canned performances and a seemingly random assortment of winners— not to mention the exorbitant amount of camera time given to Chris Brown. But we did find a few moments that made the shindig bearable.

GOTYE WINS RECORD OF THE YEAR

It felt like the Black Keys were the sure bet for this one, considering how many other awards they picked up. But the Grammy voters wisely went for the popular vote, giving it to Australian singer-songwriter’s Gotye omnipresent Somebody That I Used To Know. No matter how you feel about the actual tune, a duet with the singer Kimbra, there’s no denying its rise was purely organic and worthy of recognition. Besides, Call Me Maybe wasn’t even nominated.

TRIBUTE TO LEVON HELM

The in memoriam portion of the show tends to be a little too reverential at times. Not this year. A lively all-star band featuring Elton John, Mavis Staples, the Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard, Mumford and Sons and country star Zac Brown ripped through the Band’s barroom classic, The Weight without making it sound like a bloated mess. The young Howard, whose band was nominated for Best New Artist, impressed the most, taking the spotlight by the horns during her solo turn.

SHEERAN AND JOHN PERFORM THE A-TEAM

It seemed like LL Cool J’s cliche-ridden opening monologue would never end. Thank goodness for young, red haired British singer-songwriter Sheeran, who, with John on the piano and backing vocals, provided a moment of low-key clarity early in the evening with his melancholy hit, The A-Team, which was nominated for Song of the Year. We can’t remember the last time we were more relieved to hear a tune about a drug-addicted teen prostitute.

MUMFORD AND SONS WIN

Frank Ocean was expected to win the prize and he probably deserved it. But give credit to the Recording Academy for going with a bunch of banjo-playing, vest wearing hobo rockers. Given the lacklustre pool of nominees there’s a good chance favourites Fun. and the Black Keys split the vote (especially with Jack White in the mix) but Mumford and Sons, who have worked their trilby hats off, deserved it as much as anyone.

TIMBERLAKE RETURNS

The comeback single Suit and Tie felt like a dud but the Grammys provided a tuxedoed Timberlake an opportunity to make another case for it, this time with the backing of a big-band and a live verse from Jay-Z. We don’t know why it was broadcast in sepia-tone but the producers laid off the Instagram filter for his second number, Pusher Love Girl, a tantalizing tease for his new album, The 20/20 Experience.

TRIBUTE TO BOB MARLEY

We were dreading the idea of a Bob Marley tribute by Bruno Mars, Sting and Rihanna. Why now? Why them? But Mars set the tone with an electrifying version of his hit Locked Out of Heaven, that had everyone from Adele to Neil Patrick Harris singing along. Things got better. Sting emerged for a run through the Police’s Walking On The Moon and then Rihanna, Ziggy and Damian Marley joined together for Could You Be Loved.

OCEAN WINS BEST URBAN CONTEMPORARY ALBUM

No, the category didn’t make any sense but Frank Ocean made a worthwhile winner. He got a standing ovation from everyone in the room except Chris Brown, with whom he recently tangled in a Los Angeles parking lot. The R and B sensation made a truly humble speech that left his mom in tears. Ocean, who also won Best Rap/Sung Collaboration with Jay-Z and Kanye West for No Church In The Wild, then performed a visually stunning, if slightly subdued version of his ballad, Forrest Gump.

LONELY BOY, NEW ORLEANS STYLE

Never mind that the song came out two years ago, the Black Keys celebrated Lonely Boy taking the Best Rock Song prize by performing a souped up version with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Dr. John, who marked the occasion by wearing a Great Horned Owl on his face. The group won Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song and Best Rock Album, but inexplicably lost to Mumford and Sons for Album of the Year.